作为以太网的物理媒质，连接办公室个人电脑、打印机及其它外围设备的电缆和接插件负责处理一系列的通信协议，如IP（网际协议）、TCP（传输控制协议）和许多其它的网络信息协议等。这些协议和连接件十分适合办公室环境。它允许用户共享文件和打印机，发送e-mail，在因特网上查找资料以及使用其它办公室环境下的通信手段。工厂现场的需求则苛刻得多，并且还要满足一些特殊要求。在工厂区域内，控制器必须与驱动系统、工作站和输入输出设备交换数据。在普通的操作中，当一个任务正在进行时，软件会让用户等待。但另一方面，工业数据又对时间十分敏感，需要实时通讯。终止机器人焊接或是注满一个瓶子的操作比起将文件存储在一个远程服务器上或是打开一个网页来，都需要更精确的计时。
Ethernet/IP是一个专为工业环境设计的应用层协议。已经有四个团体加入来发展和推广这一公开的工业自动化以太网应用层协议Ethernet/IP：开放设备网供应商协会（ODVA）、工业开放以太网协会（IOANA）、国际控制网络（CI）和工业以太网协会（IEA）。他们的共同目标是向人们展示Ethernet/IP如何提供一个普遍的适合大范围自动化设备的标准。这些团体正在工作于物理层连通性要求，而这样的要求正迎合了工厂现场的苛刻需求。
支持Ethernet/IP的团体正致力于编制一个综合的稳固的标准。Ethernet/IP上的工作正由多个经销商参与，包括定制规格以及在经认证的测试实验室进行全面的综合测试。
Ethernet/IP由一个在DeviceNet™ 和ControlNet™内广泛使用的标准－控制和信息协议（CIP）构建。这个标准将网络设备作为一个对象集。它定义了访问、操作和扩展，允许多种截然不同的设备用一个共同的协议来访问。Ethernet/IP是基于广泛认识和普遍执行的标准的。
控制和信息协议（CIP）层对于Ethernet/IP的优势是非常多的。提供固定设备访问意味着可用一个配置工具从一个访问点来配置不同网络中的CIP设备，而无需专用软件。将所有的设备认作对象降低了新设备入网的培训和开通费用。Ethernet/IP比起DeviceNet™ 或ControlNet™来，减少了响应时间，增加了数据吞吐量。Ethernet/IP以一个固定的应用接口将设备从总线层连接到控制层以及企业的层面上。
传统的连接设备在典型的办公室环境下向客户提供数年的服务保证。然而，将同样的铜缆或是光纤连接器暴露于极端条件如灰尘、温度、湿度、电磁干扰，或是震动环境，它们的性能和可靠性都会下降。如果每天都暴露在集这几种元素的部分或全部的极端环境下，典型的以太网连接（即RJ-45 插座和插头）会被腐蚀、磨损、或被碎片阻塞，最后导致崩溃。最终，用户须支付价格高昂的维护费用以排除故障和更换配件。
现在安装一种新的连接器，它被专门设计用以在恶劣的环境下构建一个坚固的以太网连接－它比先前的连接器更坚韧、更强壮、更具抵御力。这个新接口被普遍认为是“工业连接器”，然而其应用却不仅仅局限于制造业。这种连接器被设计用以经受最为恶劣工业环境的考验，在湿度、液体、空气污染、震动及温度的各种极端条件下，应用仍能正常进行。
西蒙公司已开发出了一种满足所有TIA和IEC草案标准要求的工业用RJ-45连接器，并被ODVA组织所认可。西蒙工业MAX插座和插头能够提供对极端环境非常有效的抵御力。
西蒙的工业解决方案主要以一种密封RJ-45插头和插座的方式达到IP 67的等级评定。插头的外部有一个独特的刺刀式耦合螺母，通过简单的四分之一圈旋转与插座外壳啮合。RJ－45插头和插座满足增强5类要求，可在现场安装，并可现场组装合适长度的跳线。
西蒙工业MAX设计中采用了对化学制品抵御力较强的材料，比传统的连接器有更大适应范围的操作温度。连接器的适用温度从-25° C (-13° F) 到85° C (185° F)。比起标准连接件的操作温度范围，西蒙的工业连接器将整个操作温度范围扩展了50％。
最后，对于高EMI环境，西蒙提供了屏蔽型的（ScTP）工业连接器。ScTP解决方案主要使用总体屏蔽的双绞电缆，是需要对EMI进行额外防护以保证数据信号完整性的理想选择。除了屏蔽电缆，连接件同时具有高屏蔽效率和低传输阻抗，来保护数据信号从水平电缆传输至设备跳线。
实施安装Ethernet/IP并非没有挑战。一个普遍的问题是缺乏既有IT基础又了解自动化控制网络的受训工程人员。自控队伍和IT人员必须协同工作以安装和实施一个Ethernet/IP系统。合理的网络配置是第二个挑战。现场自动控制设施的以太网基础结构规划是十分重要的。详细的通道、空间、布线系统、设备和设备连接都必须要迎合网络操作的需求，还要选择正确的路由器和交换机。一旦被正确安装，Ethernet/IP基本不需要维护。
Ethernet/IP有许多竞争对手，包括Modbus/TCP，ProfiNet，HSE Fieldbus和许多其它的专有协议。工业现场以太网的反对者通常说以太网不具备自动化应用所需的坚韧性。这个论断在过去是对的，然而智能交换机已经解决了这个问题。这种交换机创建离散冲突域，它们提供所有自动化应用所需的可靠性。
Ethernet/IP
Industrial application layer protocol for industrial automation applications
Ethernet/IP is an industrial application layer protocol for industrial automation applications. Built on the standard TCP/IP protocols, it utilizes long established Ethernet hardware and software to define an application layer protocol for configuring, accessing and controlling industrial automation devices. Ethernet/IP classifies Ethernet nodes as predefined device types with specific behaviors. The Ethernet/IP application layer protocol is based on the Control and Information Protocol (CIP) layer used in both DeviceNet™ and ControlNet™. Building on these protocols, Ethernet/IP provides a seam-less integrated system from the Industrial floor to the enterprise network.
History
The physical medium of Ethernet, the cable and connectors that connect office PC's, printers, and other peripheral devices, handles a series of communication protocols such as IP (Internet Protocol) TCP (Transport Control Protocol) and numerous other network messaging protocols. This group of protocols and connectivity is well suited for the office environment. It allows users to share files, access printers, send email, search the Internet and perform all other communications used in an office environment. The needs on a factory floor are much more demanding and need to meet some special requirements. On the factory floor, controllers must access data from drive systems, workstations, and I/O devices. In normal operation, software makes a user wait while a task is being performed. Factory floor data on the other hand, is time sensitive and requires real-time communications. Stopping a robotic welder or the fill operation on a bottle at the correct time requires very precise timing compared to accessing a file stored on a remote server or opening an Internet website.
Ethernet/IP is an application layer protocol that was designed for the industrial environment. There are four groups that have joined forces to develop and promote Ethernet/IP as a publicly available Ethernet application layer for industrial automation: The Open DeviceNet Vendor Association (ODVA), The Industrial Open Ethernet Association (IOANA), Control Net International (CI) and the Industrial Ethernet Association (IEA). Their common goals show how Ethernet/IP can provide a common standard suitable for a wide range of automation devices. These same groups are working on the physical layer connectivity requirements that are needed in the harsh environments of the factory floor.
Ethernet/IP technology
Ethernet/IP uses all of the protocols of traditional Ethernet including the Transport Control Protocol (TCP), the Internet Protocol (IP) and the media access and signaling technologies found in all Ethernet network interface cards (NICs). Building on standard Ethernet technologies means that Ethernet/IP will work transparently with all the standard Ethernet devices found today. Even more importantly, basing Ethernet/IP on a standard Ethernet technology platform ensures that as the technology evolves, Ethernet/IP will evolve with it.
Ethernet is gaining acceptance in the industrial arena. Personal Computers, Printers, and other peripheral equipment with Ethernet ready Network Interface Cards have moved into the industrial arena and, when used with intelligent switches and routers, Ethernet is gaining more and more acceptance. Only the lack of an accepted application layer and industrial hardened Ethernet connectivity targeted at industrial automation has presented any barrier to Ethernet acceptance in the industrial arena.
The groups supporting Ethernet/IP are working together to write a comprehensive, consistent standard. Work on Ethernet/IP is being performed by multi-vendor participation, includes writing the specification and thorough comprehensive testing at certified test labs.
Broadly established protocol layer
Ethernet/IP is constructed from a broadly implemented standard used in DeviceNet and ControlNet called the Control and Information Protocol (CIP). This standard organizes networked devices as a collection of objects. It defines the access, behavior and extensions, which allow vastly different devices to be accessed using a common protocol. Ethernet/IP is based on widely understood and implemented standard.
CIP to Ethernet/IP
The advantages of the Control and Information Protocol (CIP) layer over Ethernet/IP are abundant. Offering consistent device access means that one configuration tool can be used to configure CIP devices on different networks from one access point without proprietary software. Classifying all devices as objects decreases the training and start-up costs required when new devices are incorporated into the network. Ethernet/IP lowers response times and greater data throughput than DeviceNet or ControlNet. Ethernet/IP links devices from bus level, to the control level, and to the enterprise level with a consistent application interface.
Industrialized Connectivity on the Factory Floor
Traditional connectivity products provide customers years of reliable service in the typical office environment. However, expose the same copper or fiber connectors to extreme conditions such as dust, temperature, moisture, electromagnetic interference, or vibration and performance and reliability will suffer. In harsh environments where exposure to some or all of these elements is a daily occurrence, the typical mated connection for Ethernet (i.e., RJ-45 outlet and plug) may corrode, wear, clog with debris, and eventually fail. In the end, customers are faced with high maintenance costs due to trouble-shooting and component replacement.
Enter a new breed of connector designed to deliver a robust Ethernet connection in even the harshest environments - tougher, stronger, and more resistant than any previous Ethernet connector. This new interface is commonly referred to as the "industrial connector", however applications are not limited to manufacturing. While the connector is designed to withstand the most punishing industrial conditions, applications will exist in environment subject to moisture, liquids, air-borne contaminants, vibration and/or temperature extremes.
Industrial Connector Solutions Available Today
The Siemon Company has developed an industrial RJ-45 connector that meets all pending TIA and IEC requirements and has been recognized by ODVA. The Siemon industrial MAX outlet and plug provide superior resistance to harsh environmental conditions.
Siemon's industrial solution achieves an IP 67 rating primarily by means of a sealed RJ-45 plug and outlet. The plug's body has a unique bayonet-style-coupling nut that mates with the outer shell of the outlet via a simple quarter turn of the coupling nut. The RJ-45 plug and outlet is category 5e compliant and can be field terminated to create custom length patch cords in the field.
The mating style prohibits ingress of moisture from either airborne humidity or by direct contact with liquid. Additionally, the mating style resists vibration by maintaining the plug's relative position to the outlet. It does not allow the plug to shift with vibration, which would otherwise cause damage to outlet contacts.
The Siemon Industrial MAX design also incorporates materials that are more resistant to chemicals and have wider operating temperature ranges than traditional connectors. The connector's expanded temperature range is from -25° C (-13° F) to 85° C (185° F). Compared to the operational temperature range for standard connectivity, Siemon's industrial connector expands the overall operational temperature range by over 50%.
Finally, for environments with high EMI, Siemon offers a screened (ScTP) version of the industrial connector. ScTP solutions, which are essentially UTP cable with an overall shield or foil, are ideal for environments where additional protection from EMI is needed to ensure the integrity of data signals. In addition to the screened cable, the connecting hardware also has high screening effectiveness and low transfer impedance to shield the data signal as it transitions from horizontal cable to the equipment cord.
Installation challenges
Implementing Ethernet/IP is not without its challenges. A common problem is the lack of trained staff who understand both the IT fundamentals and the automation network. Both the Automation Team and the IT staff must work together to install and implement an Ethernet/IP system. Proper network configuration presents the second challenge. Correct planning of Ethernet factory automation infrastructure is critical. Careful documentation of the pathways, spaces, cabling, devices, and device connections is critical to meet the networks Intended operation, as well as, having to choose the correct routers and switches. Ethernet/IP once installed correctly requires little maintenance.
There are many competitors to Ethernet/IP including Modbus/TCP, ProfiNet, HSE Fieldbus and many other proprietary protocols. Opposition to Ethernet on the factory floor often uses the argument that Ethernet lacks the level of fortitude needed in automation applications. While this argument would hold true in the past, intelligent switches have largely eliminated this argument. Switches create separate collision domains that offer the reliability required of just about all automation applications.
The movement toward Industrial Ethernet standardization and factory floor implementation is upon us.